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8046900 
Journal Article 
Plant protection product losses via tile drainage: A conceptual model and mitigation measures 
Kobierska, F; Koch, U; Kasteel, Roy; Stamm, C; Prasuhn, V 
2020 
11 
6 
115-123 
WOS:000619625400002 
Drains can be installed to reduce saturated soil conditions and improve crop growth. This article evaluates the extent to which these systems may cause losses of plant protection products (PPP). To that end, we estimated the drained fraction of Swiss arable land using both existing drainage maps and machine learning. Our drainage map suggests that 25% of Swiss agricultural land has a moderate to high potential of being drained. We further evaluated the risk for PPP losses via drainage and the potential of selected mitigation measures based on a conceptual model summarising the relevant scientific literature. Although drainage losses are highly variable, they are strongly influenced by the extent of preferential flow (PF) in soils and are an important transport pathway to surface waters. Most agricultural soils in Switzerland are prone to PF, given their loamy texture, suggesting that PPP losses via tile drains are an important phenomenon in Switzerland's drained arable fields. The most common mitigation measures for drainage are those recommended for runoff, erosion and leaching. However, given the uncertainty of the local PPP losses and driving factors, no site- or PPP-specific measures can currently be proposed to reduce PPP drainage losses. This study also examines the effectiveness of the regulatory model EXPOSIT in predicting total PPP losses and peak concentrations in watercourses. When compared with experimental data from Agroscope at Zurich-Affoltern, our findings suggest that EXPOSIT does not yield the worst-case estimates for Swiss conditions. 
drainage; plant protection products; macropore flow; mitigation measures; EXPOSIT